A Pathway to a Forest-Positive Bioeconomy in Indonesia: Harnessing Degraded Lands for Food and Energy Security

Indonesia stands at a critical juncture, navigating the trilemma of rapidly increasing demands for food and energy while concurrently pursuing ambitious climate change mitigation and forest conservation targets. The government’s recent policy focus on utilizing millions of hectares of state forest land for food and bioenergy production presents both a monumental opportunity and a significant ecological risk. This perspective argues that Indonesia’s national security goals can be ― and must be ― achieved by redirecting development efforts toward the nation’s vast degraded, marginal and underutilized lands rather than risking further natural forest conversion. We outline a clear, science-based pathway centered on restoration-oriented, climate-smart agroforestry (CSAF) and bioenergy systems. These integrated systems, utilizing locally adapted, multi-species combinations of food crops, high-value bioenergy trees and livestock, offer a scalable model to enhance land productivity, secure rural livelihoods and achieve net carbon sequestration. This approach decouples economic development from deforestation, serving as the essential foundation for building a truly forest-positive bioeconomy that ensures resilience, prosperity and ecological integrity for Indonesia.

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